As the supply of raw materials for making paper diminishes relative to the rapidly increasing demand for paper products, the value of used paper for recycling into new paper products increases. This increased value of wastepaper not only provides individuals with an incentive to save discarded papers for resale, but on a much larger scale, has stimulated many municipalities to pass ordinances requiring citizens to package wastepaper separate from other trash for pick-up and sale by the municipalities. Thus a need developed for some convenient place in the home where wastepaper can be stored and packaged for convenient disposal. At the same time, the increase in apartment dwelling creates a demand for some means of storing wastepapers in a compact, attractive form until disposal.
Newspapers and the like are not only difficult and awkward to tie into neat bundles, but if allowed to accumulate in the open, they create unsightly piles that harbor insects and rodents and create a fire hazard. Thus in addition to a convenient means of storage that does not occupy space in crowded quarters, the storage means should be attractive to look at. Also, a bailer of some sort is needed to aid the average homeowner in binding the newspapers into tight, secure bundles of a size that will hold a substantial amount of paper, and yet be small enough to be easily carried by the homeowner. However, any bailing apparatus for home use must be simple, manually operated and inexpensive. A device that will bind bundles of paper, may also be usable for binding other types of bundles and packages. The present invention was designed to satisfy this growing demand.